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Library

Library

Opening hours:

Term time:

Monday-Friday 8am-midnight
Saturday-Sunday 9am-midnight

Vacation:

The library maintains term-time hours from 0th week in Michaelmas Term through 10th week in Trinity Term, with the exception of Christmas and Easter closure periods. Any changes to this will be posted on the library door, website, and social media pages.

Graduate after-hours study room:

Graduates may also use the After-Hours Study Room in Room B in the Bernard Sunley Building, between 8pm and 8am everyday in weeks 1- 8. The key can be collected from the Lodge.

Please note only members of the College may use the library. External readers may be admitted under certain circumstances, but only if an appointment is made in advance. Please call us on 01865 281582 or email library@stcatz.ox.ac.uk if you would like to arrange a visit.

Using the library

St Catherine’s College Library is housed in a unique setting, light and elegant, designed by Arne Jacobsen. The library is maintained for the primary use of the undergraduates of the College. As a recent foundation, St Catherine’s has a very modern library with excellent resources for undergraduates in all the disciplines taught in the College. It houses approximately 60,000 volumes, and is used intensively by the students, as it is one of the best working college libraries in Oxford.

This is a significant advantage when pressure on faculty and departmental libraries at particular times makes access to important texts difficult. All books in the library are included in the electronic catalogue, which in turn forms part of the wider Oxford University libraries network. New books are constantly being added to the College library, at the recommendation either of Tutors or students. Among particular strengths is a fine collection of books on modern European history from the library of the distinguished historian and Founding Master, Lord Bullock; copies of his own works are displayed as a special collection. A separate College Law library houses law reports and journals.

Undergraduates find stimulus in the range of fields covered, not only in their own particular disciplines, but in other areas of literature, philosophy, or the visual arts. The library is wired for access to electronic library resources and to the Internet. There are 14 computer terminals, a high-quality printer available in the library for students’ use and wireless connectivity for laptop users. In combination with lots of student work space this makes the library not simply a repository for books, but a central hub for a good deal of the academic activity in the College.